Inside Straight

Graham Ellis is reliable, efficient, focused – the best pit boss Sovereign Casinos has, even if he does say so himself. But rumours of mental instability, along with the fallout of a particularly bloody night on the tables, relegate him to day shifts at a low-rent Salford club. There he catches the attention of local gangster Barry Pollard, who has every intention of making Graham his inside man and is about to make him an offer he can't refuse…"a fantastic novel; as much about the gambling pits of the north and the development of its protagonist as it is straight crime novel." – Crime Scene Scotland"a ridiculously entertaining tale … an intense crime novel that breathes new life into a classic story" – Spinetingler Magazine"a marvellous read, I loved it" – The Crime Warp"a brilliant addition to the Ray Banks pantheon, and I suspect any fan of the crime/noir genre will agree. Highly recommended." – Ian Ayris, author of Abide With Me"Ray Banks writes with harshness, humour and elegance, and his punchy dialogue teems with vigorous authenticity." – The Times"Tough and assured … Banks is updating the noir novel with an utterly original sensibility." – Publisher's Weekly"Bleakly, desperately funny, Ray Banks offers us a glimpse of what Samuel Beckett might have read like had he turned his hand to crime fiction." – Crime Always Pays"Saturday's Child is a knock-out, written with the kind of energy and passion that far too few writers can muster. Fresh and fierce, it raises the bar for hardboiled fiction on both sides of the Atlantic." – New York Times Bestseller Laura Lippman, author of What The Dead Know"Banks wields language with a knifefighter's precision, with much the same result.  From the first words to the last, this book flashes brilliantly." – Don Winslow, The Power Of The Dog and Savages"Banks is part of the post-Rankin generation for whom hardboiled is not just a state of mind but a reality. Tough-guy colloquial prose and a pace fast enough to skin a rabbit, at the service of a tale of down-and-dirty realism: this is fiery stuff." – Maxim Jakubowski, The Guardian"…terrific, brooding and chilling prose" – Tom Adair, The Scotsman"…a fine example of energetic, visceral and compelling storytelling… This is properly thrilling stuff." – The Big Issue In ScotlandRay Banks is the author of nine novels, including Dead Money, Angels of the North and Saturday's Child.